A story in eight parts. — I. Inspiration The idea for Art Camp came one beautiful spring day in 2012 when I was out shopping with my then-girlfriend. I had a notebook in my pocket, coffee in my hand, and time to let my mind wander. I recalled how many of my classmates back in art school would…

On the reality of “starving artists” in the games industry — To my fellow artists, creatives, illustrators, and concept designers, Do not work for less than minimum wage. Companies like Fantasy Flight Games ask artists to do a fully painted illustration and sign away nearly all rights to that piece for just $100. That is rude, disgraceful, and downright wrong. …

When you’re looked over, passed by, and straight up refused, that isn’t failure. When it feels like you can’t do anything right, that isn’t failure. When it all feels hopeless and you don’t even know why you bother, it still isn’t failure. When you change directions to do something else, that’s not failure. Failure is neither delays nor going slow. Failure isn’t starting late or starting wrong. Failure isn’t feeling worry or regret or confusion.

A look back after $2325.95 — About a month ago I joined Gumroad because I liked what the company was doing (helping creatives sell their stuff without taking giant percentages) and wanted to give it a shot (having used my own bootstrapped paypal-powered solution for years). None of the content is really new, per se, so…

My list of gear for 2015 as I travel the world and make art.

The natural tendency of the internet is to encourage hate and derision. Let us, as creators, break through all of that and show something entirely human, completely honest, and ultimately fragile. We’ve all heard a lot about the effects of anonymity on the internet. Swathes of unruly strangers with nothing…

The 12 year journey of my art thus far. — 2022 Update: I have edited, updated, and expanded this article to cover the 7 years since I originally published this article. Head over to my personal blog to read the new edition of How I Became an Artist. I am extraordinarily blessed to do what I love for a living. Somehow in the last decade I’ve turned a hobby into a profession and then into a lifestyle. While I don’t claim any profound wisdom nor that my path is the best one, I thought that some aspiring artists…

(even if you’re terrible) (and it’s ok if you are) Let me get this out of the way, to shut up the insufferable talent-mongers of the internet: art is a skill. If you can learn to program or learn to read, you can probably learn to be halfway decent at art. And if you’re already halfway decent, you can be…

A story from The Sin of Man I I dread the dawn. I awake and keep my eyes closed. I hope that I can shut the day out and fall back to sleep but memory and fear rush in and I open my eyes to see the empty floor of dirt…